Railway journal box



Jan. 9, 1951 w. F. TRlPLETT 2,537,432

RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 31, 1947 INVENTOR. W. F. TRIPLE 77' A T TOR/YE Y 1951 w. F. TRlPLETT 2,537,432

RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX Filed Dec. 51, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 INVENTOR.

WE TP/PLE T T WfOi/VEY Patented Jan. 9, 1951 um'ro STATES PATENT orFlcE 2,537,432 RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX William F. Triplett, Grand Junction, Colo.

Application December 31, 1947, Serial No. 794,977

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to journal box constructions, more particularly to roller bearing journal constructions for railway cars.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a more simplified construction for railway roller bearing journals, which will allow'the bearings to be installed without dismantling or rebuilding the truck and which will allow the bearing to be installed in place of the standard bearing brasses of the conventional journal box.

Another object of the invention is to provide a highly efiicient oil distributing means for lubricating railway journals of the anti-friction type.

Gther objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efiiciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side view of a conventional railway wheel truck illustrating the improved bearing in place therein;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 22, Fig. 1 looking downwardly on the improved bearing;

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3-3, Fig. 2 illustrating an end View of the improved bearing;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 44, Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view illustrating an inner roller bearing race employed in the improved bearing; and

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective View of what will be hereinafter referred to as a load adapter for the improved bearing.

In Fig. 1 a portion of the side frame of a conventional railway wheel truck is indicated at III with its bearing boxes at I I. A railway car wheel is indicated at I2 with its axle at I3. The axle I3 terminates in a journal portion I4 terminating in a terminal flange l5. The box II is provided with the usual load bearing pad I6.

This invention makes use of the standard box II, journal It, and bearing pad I6, and can be used with or without the terminal flange I5. One of the advantages of the improved construction, however, resides in the fact that it may be placed about the journal It and. within the box II without removing the terminal flange I5, and without change in the box.

The improved anti-friction railway journal bearing comprises an outer bearing housing block I! bored internally to form an outer roller race having a medial cylindrical surface for receiving cylindrical roller bearings IB, and two outerconical surfaces for receiving two series of inclined thrust roller bearings I 9.

The load rests upon the block ll throughan intermediate adapter block 253, shown more in detail in Fig. 6. The adapter block has an upper semi-cylindrical surface 2 I which rests in-a downwardly facing, semi-cylindrical concavity in the pad I6. The axis of the cylindrical surface is parallel to the axis of the journal I4. The bottom of the adapter block 26 is flat and rests upon a flat upper surface on the outer bearing housing The side thrust of the outer bearing housing I! is absorbed by mean of two vertical side rollers 22 which rest in receiving grooves 23 in the two opposite sides of the bearing housin ll. Each side :roller 22 is provided with a rocker 24 which extends outward into contact with a side thrust pad 25, with which the conventional boxes II are usually provided.

A pivot dowel 26 extends from the outer housing I1 into the adapter block 20 at the middle of the joint. This construction provides a self-aligning bearing, since the housing I! can rotate about the dowel 26, the rockers 24 rocking on the pads 25. It also provides free sideward movement of the bearing, since the cylindrical surface 2| of the adapter 20 can slide along the concave surface of the pad I6 parallel to the axis of the axle.

A split inner roller race is provided, as shown in Fig. 5, consisting of a first semi-cylindrical inner race section 21, and a second similar inner race section 28. The two race sections 21 and 28 join each other along a zig-zag joining line to form a complete cylindrical inner roller race.

The first section 2? is provided with a pointed tongue 29 which enters a V-shaped receiving notch 30 in the section 28. The second section 28 is similarly provided with a pointed tongue 3| which enters a V-shaped receiving notch 32 at the other side of the first section 21. Each section is provided with a cylindrical inner race 33 for receiving the roller bearings IB, and with conical outer races at for receiving the roller bear-. ings I9.

The conical sections 34 are notched and recessed at their opposite extremities, as shown at 35, so that they may dovetail into each other when the two sections 21 and 28 are placed to-. gether.

It is desired to call attention to the fact that the roller hearings in rolling from one section onto the other, always overlap both sections simultaneously so as to avoid any bumping or pounding acros the joint.

The lower portion of the box H is filled with lubricating oil. This oil is lifted and poured into the bearings by two oil scoops 36, there being one scoop secured to the outside face of the section 21, and one secured to the inside face of the section 28. The scoops are preferably formed of sheet metal and are set into receiving mortises in the bearing sections 27 and 28.

The improved bearing is installed by jacking up the side frame Hi and removing the old brasses from the box II. The two bearing sections 21 and 28 are then placed about the journal M behind the terminal flange l5 and temporarily held in place in any desired manner.

The thickness of the inner race sections is sufficient to bring the roller bearing outside the diameter of the terminal flange 15. The inner series of roller bearings i9 and the series of roller bearings 18 are now placed in position, and the outer housing IT, with its adapter 28 in place, is slid thereover. The outer series of rollers 19 is now placed in position and the journal is ready for use.

The above construction provides a self-aligning roller bearing, without requiring any change in the standard journal box or journal.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An anti-friction journal box construction for railway car journal boxes of the type having a load bearing pad and side thrust pads, comprising: a bearing housing block adapted to surround the journal of a conventional wheel axle; a flat, upper bearing surface on said housing block; a load adapter member having a flat lower surface resting on said flat upper surface; means pivoting said adapter to said block; a semi-cylindrical upper face on said adapter resting in a semicylindrical concavity in the journal box pad, the axis of said concavity being parallel to the axis of said journal; a roller mounted at each side of said block to transmit side thrust to the side thrust pads of said box; and anti-friction means within said block supporting said journal therein. 2. An anti-friction journal box construction for railway car journal boxes of the type having a load bearing pad and side thrust pads, comprising: a bearing housing block adapted to surround the journal of a conventional wheel axle; a flat, upper bearing surface on said housing block; a load adapter member having a flat lower surface resting on said fiat upper surface; means pivoting said adapter to said block; a semi-cylindrical upper face on said adapter resting in a semi-cylindrical concavity in the journal box pad; the axis of said concavity being parallel to the axis of said journal; a roller mounted at each side of said block to transmit side thrust to the side thrust pads of said box; an inner roller race surrounding said journal; and anti-friction bearing members separating the inner race from said block. WILLIAM F. TRIPLETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,688,856 Doerr Oct. 23, 1928 1,714,728 'Powelski May 28, 1929 1,828,312 Buckius Oct. 30, 1931 

